The soil of Death Valley has exploded into a sea of vibrant flowers thanks to record rainfall.
The valley gets its name from being one of the driest places in the world and regularly receives around five centimeters of rain a year. However, extreme weather events like Hurricane Hilary have tipped the scales: That storm system dumped 2.2 inches on August 20 alone.
Months after Hilary’s path of destruction, which caused mudslides, flooding and power outages across Southern California, February’s atmospheric river dumped an additional 1.5 inches of rain on Death Valley over a span of three days.
These conditions culminated in one of the most impressive wildflower seasons since 2016, with some tens of thousands of acres blooming at once.
Despite the striking display, the National Park Service has not declared a super bloom this year.
Death Valley National Park has exploded with a sea of brightly colored flowers after a period of record rain.
The arid valley typically receives only two inches of rain per year. However, extreme weather events have thrown it into disarray: Hurricane Hilary dumped 2.2 inches on August 20 alone.
The term originated in the 1990s and, although botanists disagree on a definition, it generally denotes large-scale blooms of annual wildflower species in dry areas that would otherwise be a rarity.
The phenomenon occurs about once a decade in Death Valley, with the last one recorded in 2016. The region experiences three bloom windows, the last of which culminates in mid-July.
“A good wildflower year depends on at least three things: well-spaced rains during the fall, winter and spring, sufficient warmth from the sun, and a lack of drying winds,” the NPS notes on its website.
‘Death Valley is famous for its spectacular spring wildflower displays, but those are the exception, not the rule. Only in perfect conditions is the desert filled with a sea of golden, violet, pink or white flowers.’
The sudden deluge of rain followed by an intermittent lack of moisture could explain why this year’s superbloom was unsuccessful. Another factor could be the proliferation of invasive weeds, which drive competition for nutrients and soil space.
However, the conditions have caused Death Valley to come alive with an explosion of cheerful yellow flowers, drawing tourists to towns like Tecopa and Shoshone along the park’s perimeter.
According to the National Park Service, the best places to see wildflowers within the national park are near the east entrance on Dantes View Road and Panamint Valley on the west side.
There are more flowers along Stateline Road between Death Valley Junction and Pahrump.
The destructive hurricane was followed by an atmospheric river in February that dumped another 1.5 inches of rain on the desert region over three days.
Despite the proliferation of flowers, this year is not shaping up to be a super bloom thanks to periods of heavy rain followed by an intermittent lack of moisture since autumn.
The best places to see flowers within the park are near the east entrance on Dantes View Road and Panamint Valley on the west side, according to the National Park Service.
Lake Manly, which dried up thousands of years ago and reappeared most recently in 2005, returned stronger than ever this year, flooding the park’s Badwater basin.
The eruption of swaths of flowers comes weeks after the resurrection of Lake Manly, which rose in the park’s Badwater basin, the lowest point on the continent.
Lake Manly also reappeared in 2005 after drying up thousands of years earlier, but experts believe it was even larger thanks to recent rain.
However, water levels have dropped since their return, and the Park Service issued a notice that the lake would be closed to navigation.
Talking with him Washington PostPatrick Donnelly, director of the Great Basin Center for Biological Diversity, described events in Death Valley as “climate chaos.”
“A lake forming in Death Valley after the wettest six months on record, followed by this strange bloom that’s unlike anything we’ve ever observed before,” Donnelly said. “If you want a picture of climate change, this is the answer.”
This “chaos” has implications for the nearly 40 million people who call California home.
Climate models indicate the state is likely to experience larger, warmer storms, leading to increased precipitation and flooding.
However, storms are not guaranteed to bring more water overall, leading to more frequent or damaging droughts.
The term “superbloom” generally describes large-scale blooms of annual wildflower species in arid habitats.
Climate models indicate the state is likely to experience larger, warmer storms, leading to more rainfall and more intense flooding.
Death Valley sees three bloom windows, with the last concluding in mid-July.
Where there is more water, the state will have to find new ways to manage it amid rapidly changing and now unpredictable conditions.
“Changes in precipitation patterns will require modifications in the way we operate and manage our dams and reservoirs,” the California Department of Water Resources notes on its website.
As past patterns become increasingly unreliable in forecasting the future, the department may need to release more water from dams to prevent flooding. But if they do, officials risk not being able to recover water through spring runoff.
Amid an increasingly impending sense of doom, wildflowers are a much-needed distraction for climate scientists like Donnelly.
“I’m going to enjoy this,” he said of the bloom. ‘Because I need it. … I love flowers in the desert, it’s what makes me happiest in the world, you get addicted to them. So I’ll take it and try to drink it all while I can.